Naval officer-historian's work served as catalyst for modern navies

8:54 PM,
Sep. 26, 2013

Alfred Thayer Mahan

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The rise of powerful modern navies in many respects arose from the observations and writings of retired naval officer and historian Alfred Thayer Mahan, whose "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783" illustrated that global power and position were sustained by the effectiveness of national fleets.

The book, published in 1890, and Mahan's subsequent works on naval strategy are often cited as the foundations for a massive naval arms race around the world.

In 1897, he wrote in "The Interest of America in Sea Power": "The United States is woefully unready, not only in fact but in ...